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THE OTHER OPTIONS FOR FISA REFORMERS — With the House’s close-but-no-cigar defeat of the Amash amendment Wednesday, civil liberties advocates still have a long way to go before they affect any surveillance change — but they at least have a few other options at their disposal. Rep. Adam Schiff, the biggest reform seeker on the House Intelligence Committee, hopes to introduce a bill by the end of next week that would use the Privacy and Civil Liberties Oversight Board to install a FISA advocate on behalf of surveillance targets. That’s a plan also being considered by Sen. Richard Blumenthal, but those efforts are separate, Schiff told MT. He added that it could be tough to pull off, since it “requires the most structural change, it’s the most complicated.”

Conversely, Schiff said his gut reaction was that bills to declassify more FISA opinions are likely to be the most promising legislative option. That’s a stance somewhat supported by an intelligence community that has pledged to look at ways to release more information — although it’s not clear when, or the extent to which, that is going to actually happen. Schiff also reiterated a suggestion to restructure the NSA’s records collection program — which NSA Director Keith Alexander didn’t rule out during remarks in Aspen last week — that would see telecom companies hold on to phone data rather than the government. Privacy advocates, though, are unlikely to be pleased with changes that require the private sector to retain data for longer periods of time.

GRASSLEY: JUST GIVING SEC A SEAT AT THE ECPA TABLE — With one week to go before the August recess, Sen. Chuck Grassley is taking a wait-and-see approach to bridging the divide over how the Leahy-Lee email privacy bill would affect civil regulatory agencies. “I don’t have a firm conviction of the position of the position of SEC — are they absolutely right, are they absolutely wrong,” he said. “I ought to at least give them a seat at the table. They don’t have a veto, so I just want to see what we can work out, and I’m not going to make any judgment until my staff gets done talking to their staff.” (He hasn’t personally met with agency staff this week, he said.) Supporters say they want an agreement soon on how the civil agencies would be affected, with the hopes of passing the bill by unanimous consent before recess. By Grassley’s count, they may need all the time they can get. “We’ve got about five more days to make a decision, and it may take those five days,” he said.

NTIA APP CODE BACKERS DECLARE VICTORY, BUT ADOPTION STILL LOW — Participants in the NTIA mobile app transparency group think its code of conduct is ready for testing. That much was apparent Thursday when players voted on the code, which creates a set of short-form notifications designed to quickly convey to mobile users how apps collect and use data. Not all groups are ready to sign on right now — some said Thursday they support the document as is, some say they’ll have a better idea after testing, and only a couple say they’re prepared to implement the code right now. But no one in the room objected to the draft.

To be sure, getting to that point is no small feat. And an App Developers Alliance-generated list of groups supporting the code is fairly extensive, including CDT, EFF, and ACLU on the privacy side, and AT&T, CTIA, and CCIA and the Internet Commerce Coalition from industry. But participants are expected to reconvene in some form a few months after testing, and that’s when we’ll learn more about who’s actually going to put the policies in place. For the time being, the chatter is over whether the group has reached its goal. Some industry and privacy groups remained unhappy about the process — the Direct Marketing Association’s Rachel Thomas said there wasn’t “consensus about finalizing the draft itself,” and to her point, 17 people voted for “further consideration” of the code. But NTIA Administrator Larry Strickling — whose agency has a stake in seeing a successful process — sounded a congratulatory note, saying the group “reached a seminal milestone in the efforts to enhance consumer privacy on mobile devices.”

GOOD FRIDAY MORNING and welcome to Morning Tech, where we couldn’t be happier with the lack of 90-degree weather in the 10-day forecast. Fall is right around the corner, people — we’re already shopping for some earthy tones. Fashion advice welcome at abyers@politico.com and @byersalex, and catch the rest of the team’s contact info after speed read.

**A message from POWERJobs: New jobs on our radar this week: Systems Engineer at The Boeing Company, International IP Director at U.S. Chamber of Commerce and VP of Policy Communications at MetLife. Interested? Apply to these positions and more at POWERJobs.com; finally, a career site made for YOU!**

SCOOP: HILL LOOKING AT NEXT STEPS ON PRIVACY — The House commerce subcommittee played a big role last Congress in the debate over online privacy, and as Congress heads to the break, Rep. Lee Terry, says the panel is going to dig back in. "I've said all along I want to form a task force within our subcommittee," he said during an interview, adding: "We've already casually picked who has the most interest on our side." Terry told us it'll be Rep. Marsha Blackburn representing the GOP, though he didn't say who else might be part of the group from the Republican side. For Democrats, the chairman indicated he "took it to [Rep.] Jan Schakowsky just two weeks ago" to see if she wanted to be co-chair. Should she choose to participate, Terry said, Schakowsky then can choose three other Democrats to join her.

EMAIL AMENDMENT NOT OFFERED IN COMMITTEE — Sen. Jerry Moran was off the Hill Thursday, which means he didn’t offer an add-on to the financial services appropriations bill that would install a warrant-for-content requirement on covered agencies like the IRS. That leaves the committee-clearedbill without the provision, while the House version, behind a push from Rep. Kevin Yoder, does have the rule.

Senators could add the provision on the floor, but even that could prove to be a moot point depending on how Washington deals with fiscal year 2014 funding. Lawmakers in both houses may have to push to get the provision added into an omnibus spending bill or continuing resolution. Or, of course, email privacy backers may find it easier (and more comprehensive) to focus their efforts on changing the Electronic Communications Privacy Act itself (like the Leahy-Lee bill), rather than going the appropriations route.

PHONE SYSTEM SPARRING AFTER SANDY HITS FEVER PITCH — Brooks Boliek with the story: “The FCC is facing a storm of activity regarding Verizon and how the company responded to communication problems caused when Hurricane Sandy ripped out the company’s old wired infrastructure on New York’s Fire Island and New Jersey’s Barrier Islands. ... Public interest groups and the company have fired off responses to the agency over the scope of its inquiry, and Verizon lobbyists have reached out to the highest levels of the commission. In areas where Sandy ripped up the old copper facilities, Verizon has replaced those with its Voice Link service. The service has been criticized as a poor substitute for the landline service it replaced — a charge the company denies. ... A coalition of public interest groups told acting FCC Chairwoman Mignon Clyburn in a Thursday letter that the commission needs to take a more active role. ... According to commission documents, Verizon officials personally lobbied Clyburn, her staff and the senior staff for Commissioners Jessica Rosenworcel and Ajit Pai.” More, for Pros: http://politico.pro/1dZrv0K

GOGO INKS FIRST LOBBYIST — The inflight WiFi company has secured its first Washington representation, according to lobbying disclosures made available this week. Bryan Cave LLP has been representing the firm since April, with former Ted Stevens aide David Russell taking the lead. The focus for Gogo revolves around “discussions regarding installation of satellite technology on international flights,” according to the filing. Gogo uses a terrestrial system to power its inflight WiFi, but expanding a satellite-based system to cover overseas travel has been a goal for a while.

AROUND D.C. TODAY: MORE IP TRANSITION TALK — Panelists at a USTelecom event on the Hill this morning will look at the phone system switch from the consumer perspective. Reps from Public Knowledge, MMTC, the Association for Competitive Technology, and Recon Analytics will be there. HVC-200 at 9:30: http://bit.ly/18Cr2kz ... A separate panel assess the pros and cons of patent trolls, with reps from Hogan Lovells, the FTC, and Johnson & Johnson. That starts at noon in Rayburn 2237: http://bit.ly/18CrgrX

SPEED READ

WHY ADVERTISERS ARE WARMING TO FB: Their massive audience is a big factor, The Wall Street Journal reports: http://on.wsj.com/139b28O

ROBERTS’ PICKS RESHAPE FISA COURT: Many of his selections are former executive branch officials, The New York Times reports: http://nyti.ms/1c8eT9B

ZUCKERBERG TO SPEAK AT IMMIGRATION DOCUMENTARY EVENT: He’ll speak at the premiere of a Jose Antonio Vargas film, the San Francisco Chronicle reports: http://bit.ly/139b809

NYT TO OBAMA: CAN YOU HEAR THEM NOW?: The administration can’t ignore calls for records collection reform, the editorial board writes: http://nyti.ms/139bq7u

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